School Athletic Budgets May Escape Cut In Funds

BREVARD SPORTS

Rumors and concern bounced from Palm Bay to Titusville the past couple of weeks about the possible closing of Cocoa Beach High School and the slashing of high school athletic budgets.

The school board was to meet late Tuesday and, unless the unfathomable occurred, Cocoa Beach High opened its doors this morning and nary a penny was lifted from high school athletic budgets.

School superintendent Abe Collinsworth had proposed the trimming of $150,000 by reducing the athletic equalization, but it should have little if any effect on the programs.

The equalization pays the difference between a school's gate receipts and the amount of $42,500. For example, Cocoa Beach made $21,647 at the gate last year and were awarded $20,853 from the county. Other larger schools in the county such as Palm Bay rarely receive equalization payments.

This year's budget was based on last year's gate receipts, which were low because the encephalitis outbreak forced evening athletic events to the daytime. Gate receipts at all schools should be up and it should not cause any lost equalization funds to the county's smaller schools.

''Last year was an emergency situation, and they had to pay out more than they usually do,'' Palm Bay athletic director Charlie Schack said. ''In my 15 years, we have gotten equalization twice and once was last year. My understanding is that they will maintain what they usually pay out.''

The worse-case scenario would be the school board recommending that equalization be totally eliminated, but that too could be overcome by the schools. Last year the principals and athletic directors recommended that ticket prices be raised to supplement athletic programs. The board opted to raise football prices only.

Sports such as basketball, which charge $2 for adults and $1 for students, can raise their ticket prices $1 and pay immediate dividends. The board plans to study raising ticket prices across the board as a long-term measure.

Astronaut tailback John Britt and linebacker Danny Hall will miss Thursday's 7:30 p.m. home game against Spruce Creek because of their ejections in last week's 30-14 loss to Merritt Island. Both were tossed for flagrant fouls and must serve a mandatory one-game suspension. Britt is the county's second-leading rusher with 632 yards and eight touchdowns and also plays linebacker. Hall, a starting linebacker, is fifth on the team with 28 tackles.

''We lose a lot of our offense, naturally, with John averaging well over a 100 (yards), but we lose a lot of defense, too,'' Astronaut coach Benny Boyd said. ''We have to regroup and play together.''

Starting fullback Richard Simmons or backup tailback Jackson Lewis will move to Britt's spot on offense. Boyd did not announce who the replacements would be on defense.

Fortunately for Astronaut, this is a non-district game against a weak opponent. Spruce Creek is 0-4.

Cocoa Beach High senior Bill Habich put on quite a diving exhibition Friday against Melbourne. Habich recorded 251.75 points, which smashed this season's county high score by a whopping 51.65 points and his personal best by 62.2 points. He owns the first, third, and fifth best diving scores in county this season.

Brevard County still has only one football team - Melbourne Central Catholic - in the state polls, but two more drew some recognition this week.

Palm Bay (3-0) and Cocoa (4-0) were among the Also Received Votes teams in Class AAAAA and AAA, respectively. Palm Bay led the AAAA honorable mention teams with nine votes and could be in the poll by next week with another victory. Cocoa drew just one vote and is eighth among the AAA honorable mention teams.

Melbourne CC (3-1) managed to stay in the A poll after the 39-18 drubbing last week by third-ranked St. Edward's. The Hustlers fell from sixth to 10th.

Rockledge High continued its dominance this season with a sweep of the team titles at Saturday's Eau Gallie Invitational cross country meet at Wickham Park. The boys team notched its third title of the season and the girls earned their second in consecutive weeks.

A runner-up finish by Akin Ross paced four Raiders in the top 10 as the squad coasted to a 33-80 victory over Cocoa Beach. Also in the top 10 were Paul Hightower (5th), David McGreal (6th), and Tom Thompson (8th). Matt Hausmann of Cocoa Beach won the title in 16 minutes, 21 seconds.

Lissa Mansberry won the first race of her career to lead a sweep of the top three spots as the Raiders cruised to a 22-82 triumph over Cocoa Beach. Mansberry, who had a personal-best time of 12 minutes, 52 seconds, was followed by Michelle Colzani and Julie Wagner, respectively.

Cocoa Beach High, the school that brought America surfing phenom Kelly Slater, has joined the National Scholastic Surf Association. Athletic director Mike Gaudy and wrestling coach Tony Tangero will coach the team that is expected to have plenty of talent. The Minutemen will be led by seniors Chris Simmons and Brian Petro; junior Sandy Bussen; sophomore Mike St. Jean; and freshman Chad Oexner.

''We had about 40 kids in the first meeting, so there is a lot of interest,'' Gaudy said. ''Surfing has been a popular thing at the high school, so we're trying to corral it into a team-type event. It should be a lot of fun.''

The NSSA sponsors events once a month statewide for high school student/surfers and to participate the student must maintain a 2.0 grade-point average. Cocoa Beach is expected to make its debut at the NSSA event Nov. 9-10 at Sunglow Pier in Daytona Beach.